REVIEW: Notes (2021)
Jimmy Olsson’s latest short film seeks to question traditional notions about messy break-ups and the manner in which our emotions can influence the art that we produce. It’s light on dialogue, but if you open yourself up to its loose, playful style, you will be…
ROAD TO OSCARS: The Documentary Shorts (2021)
A Concerto is a Conversation ★★★★ In preparation for the opening night of his concerto titled For a Younger Self, Oscar-winning composer Kris Bowers reflects on someone else’s youth: his grandfather’s, Horace. As the man’s health deteriorates, Bowers feels the urge to make the most…
ROAD TO OSCARS: The Animated Shorts (2021)
Yes-People ★★½ This Icelandic short focuses on an eclectic mix of people all living in the same building, and dealing with the crushing mundanity of everyday existence. Whilst it does have some funny moments, overall it is a bit dull, although that might just be…
SUNDANCE INTERVIEW: ‘The Unseen River’ Director Phạm Ngọc Lân
My eyes immediately caught it: a name, with diacritics and tones used in the Vietnamese language. The occasion is the all-virtual 2021 Sundance. A member of my community at a renowned film festival? It is precisely the kind of two-and-two that will place me over…
SUNDANCE INTERVIEW: ‘Raspberry’ director Julian Doan
When Sundance asked Julian Doan to give them his name’s phonetic pronunciation, he said he had an “existential crisis.” For most of the time, the Vietnamese-American director, writer and editor would have a person to say “Doan” in the same vein as “zone.” He is…
REVIEW: Rooting For Roona (2020)
Something that I rarely bring up is that I am disabled, specifically with my mobility. While I am not a wheelchair user, my medical condition makes some tasks difficult to achieve. I was born with Hydrocephalus, (excess fluid pressure on the brain) which can affect…
REVIEW: Six Stand-Out Shorts (LFF 2020)
LFF may have been done things a bit differently this year thanks to the pandemic, but the quality of the festival’s output is as strong as ever, and the short film programme is no exception to that. Out of the 37 short films (excluding Pedro…
REVIEW: The Human Voice (NYFF 2020)
A rare bright spot in our shared annus horribilis of 2020 came when we discovered that director Pedro Almodóvar was collaborating with actor Tilda Swinton in Almodóvar’s first English-language work – truly a dream come true for many of us. Seeing the first behind-the-scenes photographs…
REVIEW: The Whistler (2018)
If you like your horror movies to get straight to point then horror shorts could be the perfect option for you, as they offer digestible chunks of the genre but don’t skimp on the scares. Writer and director Jennifer Nicole Stang’s latest offering The Whistler…
REVIEW: Re-displacement (2019)
Re-displacement is a film about memory and trauma, exploring how experiences in our formative years shape our future and our identity in unseen ways. This a high-concept short film that uses sci-fi conventions to explore complex emotional themes in an objective way, but at the…
We Are The Weirdos: Short Horror Film Festival 2019
We Are The Weirdos is a short horror film festival brought to London and other places all over the UK by The Final Girls. It showcases some of the most incredible talent that horror has to offer and helps to support the Women in Horror…
FINAL GIRLS: Flesh and Blood Shorts
Blood Runs Down We follow a mother and daughter as they pass through three stages; Idolatry, Resentment and Grief. These three stages represent aspects of their lives and show them in different circumstances through a short period of time together. In the opening sequence, the…
REVIEW: Do No Harm (2019)
Do No Harm is an insanely well-made short film. Director Sam Blakeney-Edwards has crafted an unnerving film with a strong beginning, middle and end (all inside of 12 minutes). The premise of the film is about a Junior doctor ‘Dr Bloom’ (Oliver Rednall) on the night shift…
